Analysis Walkthrough

About the Data

This dataset includes 289 deaths in West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) custody from January 2020 through March 2025. It was obtained by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy through a FOIA request filed by senior policy analyst Sara Whitaker.

Each row represents a death, with key fields including:

date_of_death and booking_date
age, race, gender
facility and offender_status (e.g., pretrial vs. sentenced)
manner_of_death and cause_of_death

DCR’s annual reports do not publish this level of detail. Jail deaths are excluded, and no information is provided by facility, demographics, or cause. This dataset allows for deeper analysis of where, when, and how people are dying in custody.

Exploratory Data Analysis

In this section, we’ll begin exploring:

How many deaths occurred each year?
Which facilities have the highest number of deaths?
How do deaths vary by custody status (pretrial vs. sentenced)?
Are certain groups disproportionately affected?
Are facilities with high mortality rates experiencing overcrowding?

We’ll also examine patterns in cause of death and compare counts to what DCR reports in its official publications.

Annual Trends

The number of deaths each year provides a baseline view of overall mortality in West Virginia custody. Identifying spikes or declines helps flag potential changes in facility conditions, medical oversight, or reporting practices.

While deaths have been gradually declining in recent years, there were still 44 deaths in 2024. In the first three months of 2025 alone, there have already been 10 deaths reported.

Demographics

Understanding who is dying in custody is critical. Demographic breakdowns help show whether certain groups—by race, gender, or age—are disproportionately represented in deaths.

A disparities analysis is in progress. For example, assessing whether certain racial groups experience higher death rates relative to their representation in the incarcerated population. This includes calculating relative rate indices using population baselines from facility-level and systemwide data where available.

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody were White (92% of deaths).

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody were Male (94% of deaths).

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody were 60-69 years old (22% of deaths).

115 people who died in custody from 2020 to 2024 were under the age of 55 — that’s 42% of all deaths. 159 people (or 58%) were 55 or older.

The average age at time of death was 58.6 years old. For comparison, the average life expectancy in the U.S. is about 76 years.

Offender Status (Jail)

Many people who die in jail custody are held pretrial, meaning they have not yet been convicted of a crime. This breakdown focuses specifically on deaths in jail facilities.

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody were classified as “PTF Pretrial Felon” (53% of deaths).

Offender Status (Prison)

This chart examines deaths in prison settings, where most individuals are serving post-conviction sentences. Comparing jail and prison trends can highlight differences in medical access, length of stay, and population health.

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody were classified as “Convicted” (99% of deaths).

Cause of Death

Cause of death fields are inconsistently reported but offer valuable insight into medical and systemic issues inside facilities. The leading cause may reflect underlying health conditions or facility-level healthcare failures.

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody died from heart disease (29% of deaths). However, 41 deaths (15%) were classified as “Other/unknown” and 52 deaths (19%) as “All other illnesses.”

Manner of Death

Manner of death—how the death occurred—helps identify systemic failures such as suicide risk, overdose management, or neglect. This chart captures the official classification reported in each case.

From 2020 to 2024, most people who died in custody died from natural causes (65% of deaths).

Facilities With the Most Deaths

Some facilities account for a disproportionately high number of deaths.

Currently investigating whether these patterns may be related to conditions such as overcrowding or staffing shortages. As part of the next phase of this analysis, I will calculate mortality rates, using population data.

From 2020 to 2024, the prisons with the most deaths were Mount Olive Correctional Complex and Stevens Correctional Center. The jails with the most deaths were Southern Regional Jail and North Central Regional Jail.